Chuck Peters wrote at about 23:25:06 -0400 on Thursday, April 2, 2009:
> On Thu, Apr 2, 2009 at 11:27 AM, Jeffrey J. Kosowsky
> <backuppc AT kosowsky DOT org> wrote:
> >
> > Chuck Peters wrote at about 10:12:40 -0400 on Thursday, April 2, 2009:
> >
> > > First couple of lines:
> > >
> > > # Shadowmountrsync
> > > # Copyright Jeffrey J. Kosowsky December 2008
> > > # Version 0.3.3 (April 2009)
> > >
> > > Copyright? By default I think that means Copyright all rights
> > reserved, you
> > > aren't legally allowing others to modify and redistribute it. Since you
> > > posted an earlier version to sourceforge, shouldn't it have a GPL
> > version 2
> > > or 3 or something?
> >
> > That works for me. What it the (minimal) amount of appropriate text
> > that I need to add for that to work.
>
> I suggest saying something like:
> # Shadowmountrsync
> # Version 0.3.3 (April 2009)
> # Copyright Jeffrey J. Kosowsky December 2008, 2009
> # Copying, redistribution and modification are allowed under the terms
> of Version
> 3
> # of the GPL or any later version. The GPL can be found at many locations on
> the Internet,
> # or libraies. aka. http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.txt
>
> David Lasker mentioned http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-howto.html. It is 20
> years old and looks like it was written by a lawyer.
>
> You might want to also take a look at the FAQ.
> http://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-faq.html
>
> Below are two of the FAQ's which seem relevant to Shadowmountrsync and
> comment on them.
>
> >From the FAQ:
> *Why does the GPL require including a copy of the GPL with every copy of the
> program?*
>
> Including a copy of the license with the work is vital so that everyone who
> gets a copy of the program can know what his rights are.
>
> It might be tempting to include a URL that refers to the license, instead of
> the license itself. But you cannot be sure that the URL will still be valid,
> five years or ten years from now. Twenty years from now, URLs as we know
> them today may no longer exist.
>
> The only way to make sure that people who have copies of the program will
> continue to be able to see the license, despite all the changes that will
> happen in the network, is to include a copy of the license in the program.
> *What if the work is not much longer than the license itself?*
>
> If a single program is that short, you may as well use a simple
> all-permissive license for it, rather than the GNU GPL.
>
>
> Coincidently the FAQ mentions a URL may not be available in 20 years and the
> document on how to apply the GPL is 20 years old. I think it is reasonable
> to argue that the Internet will be around and thousands if not millions of
> copies of the GPL will be available even if a particualr URL has changed.
> The Libarary of Congress and other libraries will also have paper and
> electronic copies of the GPL.
>
> Shadowmountrsync is currently more or less as long as the GPL and the FAQ
> says you might "use a simple all-permissive license for it." I would argue
> that Shadowmountrsync appears to be sigificant and useful enough that a GPL
> is a good idea. Modified versions might be included with backuppc or other
> backup programs in the future and if I wrote the program I would want to
> benefit from the modifications the GPL allows.
>
> With all that said including a copy of the GPL at a latter date would be a
> good idea.
>
Thanks for all the in input and references to the GPL. I included the
short GPL v3 reference recommended in the howto that I believe David
Lasker referenced (thanks!). For me referencing the URL rather than
including the full text is good enough since I am most concerned with
technically having a license in place that allows others to use,
modify, and distribute it fairly. I'm less concerned with the legal
minutae and hypotheticals about URLs vanishing, etc.
Hopefully the updated version including the GPL and a few additional
explanatory comments will be posted soon to the Wiki.
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